Ex-S.F. Supervisor Named Deputy Santa Clara County Executive

David Campos will start work as deputy Santa Clara County executive next week. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

Former San Francisco Supervisor David Campos has accepted a high-ranking job in Santa Clara County government. Campos, a progressive who served two terms on the moderate-majority S.F. Board of Supervisors, will assume the role of deputy county executive next week.

“David is known as a good government advocate and has a proven track record for requiring transparency and accountability for government agencies,” county Executive Jeff Smith said in a press release. “He possesses the right combination of management expertise, knowledge of policy implementation, and a clear understanding of how to meet the needs of a diverse community.”

Before his election as a San Francisco supe, Campos spent three years on the San Francisco Police Commission and three years as general counsel for the San Francisco Unified School District. In 2014, during the middle of his final term as supervisor, he ran for state Assembly but lost to his board colleague, David Chiu.

As a supervisor, Campos spearheaded landmark legislation on immigration, transportation, housing, healthcare, labor, policing, homelessness and LGBTQ rights. He sought to guarantee due process to undocumented children. He also pushed for citywide universal healthcare, resource centers for the homeless, free transit for the poor and regulations on AirBnb rentals.

Because of San Francisco’s revolving door policy, Campos cannot work in the city or county’s government for at least a year. In an interview with SFist, he said that his tenure on the nine-county Metropolitan Transportation Commission conditioned him to think not only of his city, but the entire region

“That role made it easier for me to think about this one,” he told the website.

Many of the causes he championed in San Francisco have also been a priority in the South Bay. Santa Clara County boasts one of the highest concentrations of immigrants in the nation and became the first county in the U.S. to establish an office of LGBTQ affairs. Like San Francisco, Santa Clara County has grappled with how to deal with a large homeless population and an intractable jobs-housing imbalance.

“Santa Clara County and its Board of Supervisors are national and regional leaders on many critical issues,” Campos said in a prepared statement, “and I look forward to serving the diverse communities of this great county.”

Campos lives with his partner in San Francisco and was born in Guatemala. He grew up in Central Los Angeles and went on to attend Stanford and Harvard universities. He’s a member of the state Bar Association and has tried cases before state and federal courts. Follow him on Twitter here: @DavidCamposSF.